Chair of Online Communication

About us / Mission statement

The chair of online communication, headed by Prof. Thorsten Quandt, focuses on societal changes connected to the Internet and new media. The empirical research of the chair follows three central areas that can be understood as the core dimensions of these changes. These three focal areas are: (1) Innovations & technology, (2) the individual, its (self-)perception and everyday life, (3) human coexistence and societal effects. Along these three areas, the chair investigates several current phenomena and challenges, using classic and innovative empirical methods. The chair’s research and methods operate at the intersection of communication studies, psychology, empirical social sciences and data science. The primary goal is to merge different thematic and methodical perspectives and thus to make a substantial contribution to the understanding of societal and communicative changes.

(1) Foundations of media innovations

The chair conducts research on the general impact of new media on the individual, groups and society. This is typically groundwork for cutting edge innovations, like VR-, AR and Mixed Reality-Devices, or new types of computer games. Some of these studies are carried out in the chair’s own VR/GameLab.

(2) Transformations of the individual and its everyday life

The chair is interested in the effects of new media and online communication on the users’ mind, and the impact on their everyday life. This typically involves recently introduced technologies and current forms of online use. Research projects address the effects of social media or computer games on psycho-social well-being, but also dysfunctional forms of use (like excessive use/addiction).

(3) Transformation of public communication and society

The chair studies higher-level effects that operate on the meso- or macro-level (i.e. group/interaction effects, societal effects). Again, this includes research on dysfunctional forms of using digital media (like cyberbullying, cyberhate and online propaganda), but also research in the field of (online) journalism and alternative/participatory information sources on the Internet.

Projects

PropStop is a project funded by the Federal Ministry for Education and Research (BMBF) that aims at studying hidden propaganda disseminations via online media, in order to identify and prove accordant attempts. Throughout the project an interdisciplinary team of statisticians, communication scientists, IT-security researchers, journalists and IT-security companies works together. Besides a large-scale examination of propaganda characteristics online, huge quantities of public opinion statements in different areas of the digital public sphere will be analyzed for repeated semantic and technical patterns. The insights gained throughout the project will be used to enhance our detection of massive, hidden propaganda attacks, to develop technologies to identify these attacks, and to improve our abilities to verify propaganda attacks. Real-time simulations of massive hidden propaganda attacks will provide meaningful insights into the transdisciplinary applicability of the gained findings.

Groundbreaking technologies change not only our daily lives and habits but also affect our perceptions, feelings, communication structures, and self image. Never before, however, has the discussion of the impact of a technological development on mental health been as intense as it has been since the introduction of the internet. One would expect psychiatric experts to take the lead in this discussion. At present, most of the commentary by psychiatrists and psychologists seems to be as influenced by their own attitudes towards modern technology as it is by empirical data and scientific insight. There are reasons for this. While one need not look far for inflammatory discussions of „internet addiction,“ a scientific debate amongst psychiatric professionals on this topic is seldom to be found. Despite the fact that many of the accusations found in the media about internet use can be disproven, they continue to enjoy great popularity.

The research training group examines how trust can be developed and maintained under the conditions of new forms of communication. Digitized means of communication change the structure and sustainability of trust because firstly, familiar face-to-face communication is replaced by digitized interactions, secondly, virtual social and office networks emerge and finally, because new forms of relationships between the public, organisations and individuals develop. The postgraduate programme analyses the consequences of these processes for the establishment of trust relationships by the example of four prototypical areas: media, economy, science and sports.

Quandt, T, Boberg, S., & Frischlich, L. (2017, May). The wall against the dark? How journalists and community managers identify and interpret hidden online propaganda. Paper presented at the Convention of the International Communication Association, San Diego.

Frischlich, L. (February, 2017). Propaganda 2.0. Wirkung und Gegenangebote. [Propaganda 2.0- effects and counter offerings] Workshop at the symposium extremisms of the youth and social spaces: Contexts and strategies for dealing with radical ideologies among young adult. University of Osnabrück. Osnabrück, Germany.

Frischlich, L., Rieger, D., Morten, A. & Bente, G. (May 2017). A story for and not against: Effects and limitations of narrativity in propaganda-videos and counter-narratives. Paper presented at the 67st annual meeting of the International Communication Association (ICA). San Diego, USA.

Rieger, D., Frischlich, L., & Schmitt, J.B. (May 2017). The dark side of narrative persuasion: Why propaganda works and what counter-narratives have to learn. Paper presented at the preconference “narrative persuasion” at the 67st annual meeting of the International Communication Association (ICA). San Diego, USA.

Schmitt, A. (2017, May). Do you feel private on SNSs? Development of the multidimensional online privacy perception scale. Paper presented at the Convention of the International Communication Association, San Diego.

Domahidi, E., Breuer J., Kowert, R., Festl, R., & Quandt, Thorsten (2016, June). A longitudinal analysis of gaming- and non-gaming-related friendships and social support among social online game players. Paper presented at the Convention of the International Communication Association, Fukuoka.

Breuer, J., Elson, M., & Quandt. T. (2015, August). Game, set, snatch? The effects of game mode and outcome in a console sports game on cooperative behavior. Paper presented at the 2015 Convention of the American Psychological Association (APA), Toronto.

Domahidi, E., & Quandt, T. (2015, May). The relationship between regional social network site use, friendships and social capital outcomes. Paper presented at the Annual Convention of the International Communication Association, San Juan.

Kowert, R., Breuer, J., Festl, R., & Quandt, T. (2015, May). Women are from FarmVille, men are from ViceCity: The cycle of exclusion and sexism in video game content and culture. Paper presented at the Annual Convention of the International Communication Association, San Juan.

Quandt, T. (2015, April). (Ir)Responsible gaming. Are digital games too much fun? Symposium „The healing game: positive aspects of game design and play“, organized by ICA in cooperation with University of Cologne, Cologne, 2. April 2015.

Günther, E., Quandt, T., Engelmann, I., & Neuberger, C. (2015, February). From text to topics: A comparison of a manual and an automated content analysis. Presentation at the conference “Re-inventing journalism”, convened by the Journalism Studies Sections of ECREA and DGPUK, Winterthur, Switzerland.

Quandt, T. (2014, August). The social fabric of virtual life. Social-scientific research on the use and effects of digital games. Keynote speech at CIG 2014, IEEE Conference on Computational Intelligence and Games, Dortmund.

Festl, R., Scharkow, M, & Quandt, T. (2014, May). The individual or the class: A multilevel analysis of cyberbullying behavior in school contexts. Paper presented at the Annual Convention of the International Communication Association, Seattle.

Breuer, J., Scharkow, M., & Quandt, T. (2013, June). The effects of playing versus watching a digital game on the perception and evaluation of in-game violence. Paper presented at the Annual Convention of the International Communication Association, London.

Domahidi, E., Festl, R., & Quandt, T. (2013, June). Wanted! The relationship between social motives for playing online games and gaming-related friendships. Paper presented at the pre-conference “The Power of Play: Motivational Uses and Applications”, Annual Convention of the International Communication Association, London.

Eichentopf, J., Breuer, J., & Quandt, T. (2013, June). “Did you find what you were looking for?” - Gratifications sought and obtained in computer games. Paper presented at the pre-conference “The Power of Play: Motivational Uses and Applications”, Annual Convention of the International Communication Association, London.

Günther, E., Festl, R., & Quandt, T. (2013, June). Team sports in virtual worlds: Are clan members team players in the real world, too? Paper presented at the Annual Convention of the International Communication Association, London.

Quandt, T. (2013, May). Reconstructing the digital public sphere? Topological analyses of online news using automated content analysis and machine based learning. Presentation at the ESF exploratory workshop “Mapping The Digital News Ecosystem: Professional Journalism, New Producers And Active Audiences In The Digital Public Sphere”, Barcelona, Spain.

Quandt, T. (2013, April). Media and communcation research in Finnish Universities. Presentation of the results. Presentation at the workshop on the publication of the evaluation report “Finnish media and communication research”, Helsinki, Finland.

Buhl, F. (2013, March). Participation in political debates through blogging in Germany: A time-series analysis of the relationship between political blogs and mass media. Presentation at the conference General Online Research, Mannheim, Germany..

Frischlich, L., & Klusacek, C. (March 2013). I push my seed and I push the life: Gender differences in the implicit association of sex and love after mortality salience. Poster presented at the 55st Meeting of the experimentally working psychologists (TEAP). Wien, Austria.

Frischlich, L., Rieger, D., Dratsch, T., & Bente, G. (September 2013). You’re my match: The effects of mortality salience on dating similar and dissimilar in- and outgroup members. Poster presented at the Meeting of the Social psychological interest group of the German psychological association (DGPS). Bochum, Germany.

Tump, S., & Frischlich, L. (September 2013). Call for defense: Mobilization frames using out-group and in-group violence in radical-Islamist video propaganda. Poster presented at the Meeting of the Media psychological interest group of the German psychological association (DGPS). Würzburg, Germany.

2012

Breuer, J., Scharkow, M. & Quandt, T. (2012, October). The others: Why research on the effects of digital games on aggression needs a multiplayer perspective. Presentation at the pre-conference “Experiencing Digital Games”, European Communication Conference ECC 2012 of the European Communication Research and Education Association, Istanbul, Turkey.

Günther, E., Festl, R. & Quandt, T. (2012, July). Media as sports: Let the digital games begin! Paper presented at the Convention of the International Association for Media and Communication Research, Durban, South Africa.

Kröger, S., Domahidi, E. & Quandt, T. (2012, July). Managerial career pathways in the games industry. Paper presented at the Convention of the International Association for Media and Communication Research, Durban, South Africa.

Domahidi, E., Scharkow, M., & Quandt, T. (2012, May). Real friends and virtual life? Computer games as foci of activity for social community building. Paper presented at the Annual Convention of the International Communication Association, Phoenix, AZ.

2011

Quandt, T., Festl, R. ,& Scharkow, M. (2011, November). The social fabric of virtual life. Findings from a large-scale multi-level research project. Invited lecture at the University Rovira i Virgili, Tarragona, Spain.

Breuer, J., Scharkow, M., & Quandt, T. (2011, August). Tunnel vision or spectator mode? - The effects of watching versus playing a violent video game on immersion and perceived violence. Poster presented at the 7th Conference of the Media Psychology Division of the DGPs, Bremen.

Breuer, J., & Quandt, T. (2011, July). In-vitro gaming - Studying player interaction in the lab. Paper presented at multi.player: International Conference on the Social Aspects of Digital Gaming, Hohenheim.

Festl, R., Quandt, T., & Scharkow, M. (2011, July). The social fabric of virtual life: Findings from a large-scale multi-level research project. Paper presented at multi.player: International Conference on the Social Aspects of Digital Gaming, Hohenheim.

Domahidi, E., & Quandt, T. (2011, May). “And all of a sudden, my life was gone.” A biographical analysis of extreme gamers. Paper presented at the Annual Convention of the International Communication Association, Boston.

Festl, R., & Quandt, T. (2011, May). The influence of individual and structural attributes on perpetration via the Internet. Paper presented at the Annual Convention of the International Communication Association, Boston.

Quandt, T. (2008, October). Sozialwissenschaftliche Computerspieleforschung in Deutschland [Computer research in social sciences in Germany]. Keynote at “Computerspiele Camp(us) Cologne”, World Cyber Games 2008, Cologne.

Wimmer, J., & Quandt, T. (2008, May). Online gaming's impact on real life. Findings from qualitative and quantitative studies on online gaming. Panel presentation “The social impact of online games” at the Annual Convention of the International Communication Association, Montreal.

Domingo, D., Heinonen, A., Paulussen, S., Quandt, T., Singer, J., & Vujnovic, M. (2008, May). Research challenges for an international comparison of participatory journalism practices. Panel presentation “Approaches to participatory journalism: How to make sense of the consequences of a new object of study” at the Annual Convention of the International Communication Association, Montreal.

Quandt, T. (2007, September). A 'whole new journalism' – stuck in the past? A comparative content analysis of online news in the US and Europe. Paper presented at the conference “The future of newspapers”, organised by the journals “Journalism Studies” and “Journalism Practice”, Cardiff.

v. Pape, T., & Quandt, T. (2007, July). Digital revolution in an ageing society? A multi-method study on media inventories and media use in the households of older adults. Paper presented at the IAMCR Conference, Paris.

2006

Quandt, T. (2006, November). (No) News on the World Wide Web? A comparative content analysis of journalistic news sites in four European countries. Paper presented at the international conference “Thinking Journalism across National Boundaries”, organised by SPBJOR, ICA & IAMCR, Porto Alegre, Brasil.

Quandt, T., & v. Pape, T. (2006, July). The construction of new mediascapes: Empirical findings on the social and personal shaping of (new) media. Paper presented at the Annual Convention of the International Sociological Association, Session “The futures of new mediascapes”, Durban, South Africa.

Quandt, T. (2005, May). Journalism, action theory and modern network ideas. Paper presented at the Annual Convention of the International Communication Association, New York.

Quandt, T. (2005, May). Research into media convergence. Towards a multidisciplinary, multiperspective approach. Paper presented at the Annual Convention of the International Communication Association, New York.

2004

Quandt, T., & Hanitzsch, T. (2004, July). Distinctions and equivalence. Transformation of journalism and issues of methodology. Paper presented at the international workshop “Journalism research in an era of globalization”, organised by TU Ilmenau, Indiana University Bloomington and the DGPuK division ‚Journalism Research’, Erfurt.

Weaver, D. H., Löffelholz, M., Hanitzsch, T., Altmeppen K.-D., & Quandt, T. (2004, May). American and German online journalists at the beginning of the 21st century. A bi-national survey. Paper presented at the Annual Convention of the International Communication Association, New Orleans.